It wasn’t too long ago that Torres was still relatively unknown to most casual MMA fans. Five-straight wins in the WEC have changed that, and the Indiana native is now perhaps the organization’s hottest commodity.

While Torres still trains just as hard as he ever has, the 28-year-old is now forced to deal with a constant barrage of interview requests, public appearances, commercial shoots and media calls. But Torres insists he’s not losing focus on the task at hand.

“I train the same. I do everything the same. The only thing I do different is allow time for media. Sometimes it bites into eating time and sleeping time, but it’s not that bad yet. It’s not crazy yet, but it’s getting there.”

As he prepares to main-event tonight’s “WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles,” the Indiana native is rapidly becoming the face of the WEC – a dominant champion with a quick wit and even quicker submissions. With each VERSUS-broadcast win, Torres’ magnificent record and impressive performances earn him more and more recognition as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters.

But Torres denies his place at the forefront of the organization.

“I think (former featherweight champion) Urijah Faber is still the face of the organization,” Torres said. “He was pushed so hard and for so long that he’s still the face of the WEC.

“I get a little more attention because I speak Spanish and English, but I think there’s a lot of fighters that make up the WEC. You can’t just pick one person. There’s a lot of top fighters that make up the bantamweight and the featherweights class, and then the lightweights like Donald Cerrone, Jamie Varner, Benson Henderson, and those guys.”

If Torres isn’t already the face of the WEC, he soon will be. The long-promised expansion of the WEC into Latin America appears imminent, and Torres knows he’ll be at the leading edge of the push.

And despite the attention that already follows Torres everywhere – attention that cut short his recent open workouts due to interview requests both before and after the session – the 135-pound champ said he’s ready to take on the additional responsibilities of answering to the Spanish-speaking press.

“I’m looking forward to it because I’m going to be one of the first fighters to go down to Mexico into that market,” Torres said. “I can always say when I retire or before I die that I was one of the fighters that did that. I know I’m going to go down in history and have a legacy for doing that. I’m proud of doing that.”

Faber was the first face of the Zuffa-era WEC, but recent losses to Mike Brown have left Torres to pick up the slack. Of course, Torres’ stock could also slide if he were to lose tonight against top challenger Brian Bowles (7-0 MMA, 4-0 WEC).

Torres was supposed to face Bowles in April, but a back injury to the challenger left the champ to face Takeya Mizugaki instead.

“I had a picture of Brian Bowles on my wall for like six months, and I look at him every day,” Torres said. “He’s coming to fight me at the peak of my game with an eight-month layoff. That’s a long time to not fight and then come into a top fight. I think if anything, it’s going to be bad for him.”

Torres knows well what his opponent will bring to the table, and he’s prepared to combat Bowles in every area.

“He’s going to come with big right hands and left hooks,” Torres said. “He’s going to try and push the clinch. But the clinch is my game; that’s my area. I don’t care who the guy is, how good of a wrestler he is. My clinch game is solid.

“If he takes me down, that’s to his disadvantage also. I have a very active guard. I’m dangerous on my back, I’m dangerous being on top. I’m dangerous from any position on the floor. I can pull off a submission from anywhere.”

A win over Bowles would be Torres’ sixth-straight victory in the WEC and 17th-consecutive win overall. And while the champ may dispute where that leaves him in the WEC’s overall picture, he has no doubt what the result of the contest will be.

“I’m ready to put on a good fight for the fans,” Torres said. “I’m ready to go five rounds, and I’m also ready to knock him out in 10 seconds.

“I’m ready for a good fight.”

For complete coverage of WEC 42, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

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